December 2016

SO LONG 2016...It's Been a BLAST!!

It is hard to believe that we are heading in to our Christmas Break already!!

It has been a FABULOUS year so far.

This school year we have been fundraising to help upgrade and improve our playground and so far our families have been so generous with all of our Fundraising activities. Here is what we have accomplished so far!

PIZZA NIGHT - This was our lowest attended Pizza Night that I have ever seen but we still raised a profit of $500! Thank you so much!

PURDY'S - We sold over $1000 worth of chocolate and we received a profit of almost $450! Thank you for supporting us!

BEST WAY PHOTO - Thank you for purchasing photos this year! We received a rebate cheque of just over $220!

SCHOLASTIC BOOKS - We have received $360 Bonus Bucks that we can use to purchase books and classroom supplies! Thank you so much for ordering books each month!

Our Families are just amazing! And that was definitely evident this week as Marion and I dropped off the Christmas Hamper for our Sponsor Family from the Christmas Bureau. Our Sponsor Family is going to be absolutely amazed at all the wonderful gifts they will receive at Christmas time.

Have a wonderful Christmas holiday and we shall see you all in the New Year!! 

Please see below for what the children did in the Classrooms this month as well as the important upcoming dates!!

Important Dates:

Dec. 16 - Last Day of Preschool

Dec. 18 - Church Service of Lessons and Carols - 10am

Dec. 24 - Church Service: A Children's Christmas Service - 3pm

              - Family Christmas Eucharist - 5pm

              - Carols and Midnight Mass - 11pm

Dec. 25 - Church Mass for Christmas Day - 10am

Jan. 1 - New Year's Day Eucharist - 10am

Jan. 3 - First Day Back at Preschool

DISCOVERY TWOS

For the month of November we focused on the topic of hibernation. At circle we read stories and sang songs about the different animals that hibernate during the winter. For art we decorated bears in caves, chipmunks in trees, and frogs in the mud. 

We also talked about shapes. Each day we focused on a different shape. We did circles, squares, stars, and triangles. 

Next it was onto Christmas. We made a special Christmas gift, decorated trees, gingerbread people, paper plate wreaths, star salt dough ornaments, and reindeer hats. 

As the weather is getting colder we would like to please ask you to dress your kids accordingly as we will be going outside if it is not raining or snowing. Also, please bring a change of shoes as it can be difficult for the children to walk up the stairs or run with boots on. Thank you. 

We would like to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

CLASS 301

It's hard to believe that November is over, and we only have a couple of weeks left before we turn the pages on a new calendar!

The highlight of this month was our annual Christmas Services in the church. The children practiced with endless energy. It might be hard to believe, but they all knew the lyrics and all the actions for the songs, but for some of our children it was much more amusing to shout greetings to their family members watching, and for some of them ( let's not forget they are 3's ), it was just waaaaay to long to stand through the whole event. Regardless, we think they were fantastic, and they all did a great job!

We sadly said good-bye to Katie and Joe, and welcomed our new friend Tanush.

In November we exercised our brains on many topics, including health, manners, co-operation, then moved on to colours and numbers.

 We decorated the classroom and  a Christmas tree and used another bucketful of sparkles on special gifts to our families.

We wish you all Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Estelle, Gabi and Karen

CLASS 302

Our little friends are definitely getting settled into preschool, and it is so wonderful to see how they are exploring and playing together, learning how to share, take turns and establish relationships with one another. 'St. Catherine's Clinic' in the home corner gave some great opportunities to work on social skills as there was a lot of problem solving happening in the area over doctor's tools and bags.

At Circle time, we talked about the importance of healthy habits in the classroom and home, including hand washing, personal hygiene, nutrition and exercise. Our kids are super smart, so we explored other themes too, including letters, numbers and colours. They particularly enjoyed creating art with letters, especially with their own initials. We did not have much time to learn the actions and the words to the songs for the Christmas Services, but they did enjoy the practices, and were very excited to perform. They did so well and we are so proud of them!

We hope that you all have a wonderful, happy Holiday Season, and we wish you all the best for the New Year!

Karen and Gabi

CLASS 304

For the month of November we talked about health and nutrition. We talked about germs and washing hands, healthy foods, and the importance of brushing our teeth. For art we painted pictures using toothbrushes and splatter painted germs on our hand prints. 

Then we talked briefly about Remembrance Day. We talked about why we wear poppies and we made paper plate poppies for art. 

We also talked about colours and shapes. We finger painted using primary colours and saw the change of what happens when we mixed two colours together. We talked about different shapes and then stamped them onto paper using cookie cutters and paint. 

Then it was time to talk about Christmas! First we talked about the nativity scene where Mary and Joseph had a baby named Jesus and all the people who came to visit him. We created the nativity scene for our art. Other art activities included a special Christmas gift, glitter on Christmas trees, gold foil stars, shiny angels, gingerbread people, paper plate wreaths, and star salt dough ornaments. 

The children did an amazing job at the Christmas services this year. Hope you all enjoyed their beautiful singing. They worked really hard to prepare for it. Big thanks to Rachel and Marion for putting it all together. 

We would like to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

Stephanie and Gabi 

CLASS 401

For the first week of November we talked about the season Fall. At circle we talked about why the leaves change colours. For art we made hand print trees with fingerprint leaves and paper bag trees with tissue paper leaves. 

We also talked about Remembrance Day. We talked about why we wear poppies and how people a long time ago made this world such a great place for us to live in. For art we made poppies out of heart shapes. 

Next we talked about different modes of transportation. We talked about how transportation is a way of getting from one place to another. We made muddy tracks with cars in paint, traffic lights, cars with wheels that move, paper airplanes, and garbage trucks. 

Then it was time to talk about Christmas! First we talked about the nativity scene where Mary and Joseph had a baby named Jesus and all the people who came to visit him. We made a star with baby Jesus lying in the middle of it for art. 

Other art activities included a special Christmas gift, star salt dough ornaments, and apple sauce container bells. 

The children did an amazing job at the Christmas services this year. Hope you all enjoyed their beautiful singing. They worked really hard to prepare for it. Big thanks to Rachel and Marion for putting it all together. 

We would like to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

CLASS 402

Wow, how time has flown. It is hard to believe we have been a school for almost 4 months.  But as usual we have packed lots of playing and learning into it.

We started November with learning about whales and our class pet Echo.

We then moved into Remembrance Day, thanking the soldiers for giving us freedom. That it is important to use your words not your hands when you are angry. We made our own Poppy Wreathes.  We also read stories about A War Horse and A War Puppy.

Our next discussion was following along a similar theme, about using your words not your hands, we read the book "How Full is Your Bucket?" We realized that you have the power to make yourself and those around you feel "full" of happiness -  bucket filling, or "empty" of happiness - bucket dipping. This is a very important concept to learn at this age because we are just beginning to realize that it's not ALL about me... That can be a tough lesson to grasp but our class is doing a very fine job at it (most of the time!!). We will continue this theme through the entire year in a variety ways.

With bucket filling in mind we then moved on to explore the story “The Gingerbread Man”.  We traced, painted and draw our own gingerbread men.  We also had the opportunity to make gingerbread dough and then cook them.  Thankfully, they did not jump out of the oven and we also got to eat them.  We also had lots of fun ‘acting out’ the story of the gingerbread man.

With Christmas fast approaching we discovered the story of “The Nutcracker”. We got to listen to the music and use Coffee, Tea and Hot Chocolate to ‘paint’ with. We decorated the Ballerina and glued the Nutcracker ‘back together’. We got to watch the DVD (with a little fast forwarding), so we could not visualize the whole effect.

We have also had lots of fun in the home corner being ‘teachers’. Deciding who is the leader and leader’s helper as well as the days and date of the week.

We started the festive season with the story about the birth of Jesus. This we tied into our Christmas Service as well as our music sessions.  Our Christmas concert was amazing and you could see how much work the children had been doing.

The last 2 weeks we have been busy ‘little elves’ making Christmas presents and decorations for the tree. We have made Angels, Christmas Bells and of course our special surprise. We will have a lovely Christmas party and go caroling in the village.

Finally, just a reminder that the New Year is a great time to have some play dates.  It is great for the kids to socialize on a one to one basis as well as in a group.

Have a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Arsi, Danielle and Sousan

CLASS 403

In November, we talked about Remembrance Day. We talked about why we wear poppies and how people a long time ago made this world such a great place for us to live in. For art we made poppies out of heart shapes. 

Next we focused on the different kinds of community helpers we have in our city. At circle we talked about a bunch of occupations that people have and the things they do at their job. For art we made policemen, firefighters, books, constructions vests and stop signs, drew a picture of what we want to be when we grow up, filled out a patient information form and vet doctor kit, baked chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and made bracelets and put them in an envelope. We also got to go on two field trips to visit some of the community helpers in Edgemont village. We went to the library for a circle time and the vets office to take a tour of where all the pets go when they need medical attention. 

 

Then it was time to talk about Christmas! First we talked about the nativity scene where Mary and Joseph had a baby named Jesus and all the people who came to visit him. We created the nativity scene for art. Other art activities included a special Christmas gift, star salt dough ornaments, and apple sauce container bells. 

The children did an amazing job at the Christmas services this year. Hope you all enjoyed their beautiful singing. They worked really hard to prepare for it. Big thanks to Rachel and Marion for putting it all together. 

We would like to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

Stephanie, Estelle, Gabi, Karen, and Sousan